Mrs Sparts MG diary.

[spartacus]

Our collection story begins 21 years ago, the lovely Mrs Spart had just passed her test at the tender age of 17 and bought her first car, like most first cars it left a lasting impression. Unfortunately, as is often the way, life and finances took over and it had to go.

Fast forward to a couple of months ago and while idly browsing one evening Mrs Spart entered the reg number of the car in question. Unbelievably, not only is it still on the road but it's for sale! 

After a bit of a false start from myself, making contact with the seller, then him inexplicably not answering calls, texts or emails, Mrs Spart takes matters into her own hands. The seller is much more forthcoming and we make a date to view and potentially collect. That date is tomorrow!

I've hired a flatbed trailer from a local company in Worksop and we're currently bedded down for the night in Alnwick, en-route to the land of the SVM, specifically, Perth. 

For those in the mood for a guessing game I'll not reveal the model of car until tomorrow but suffice to say, it shares one particular part, at least very closely in design, with my LDV Convoy camper tow vehicle.

Here we are just leaving Halfords in Worksop, as I forgot to take a rear plate to the trailer hire place. The man in Halfords was very helpful, bearing in mind the regulations regarding having a plate made. I was able to locate my insurance details on my phone and he used that info and my driving licence to whip up a rear plate.

I note that according to davidfowler2000 that this collection is classed as 'close', it'll total 600+miles, so it's going to be enough for one weekend!

[stuboy]

??

[spartacus]

So, so close!

[Asimo]

[MorrisItalSLX]

10 hours ago, spartacus said:

For those in the mood for a guessing game I'll not reveal the model of car until tomorrow but suffice to say, it shares one particular part, at least very closely in design, with my LDV Convoy camper tow vehicle.

I’m going to guess the part is the instrument cluster and the car in question is from Austin Rover, possibly a Metro.

[spartacus]

Virtual pint to Asimo! 

Yep it's an MGB GT, here's a picture from back in the day, scanned photo, so not the best.

[spartacus]

Sorry @MorrisItalSLX, I like your thinking though, a Metro would probably be a more usual choice of first car. Every time I get in the camper and look at the instrument cluster I wonder at the amount of borrowed parts, most of them successfully.

[Jenson Velcro]

Wow that’s one hell of a first car at age 17. Makes a change from a Fiesta, Corsa etc.

What’s  it’s condition now?

[Jim Bell]

9 minutes ago, spartacus said:

Virtual pint to Asimo! 

Yep it's an MGB GT, here's a picture from back in the day, scanned photo, so not the best.

Look at the those bodylines. Atcnbe!

What a vehicle for a first car. Beats a Corsa or a Rover 25 by a country mile. Mega impressive. 

[spartacus]

Yep, it was a good choice. The car has been through a couple of owners since, one of them had some extensive restoration carried out at some point and the condition looks, from the pictures I've seen, pretty good. The interior has changed and it's gained a Webasto sunroof, a set of Minilites and a slightly different colour. It's possibly changed more than Mrs Spart!

@MorrisItalSLX, here's the instrument cluster of which you speak. Artfully positioned so that the upper end of the speedo scale is unreadable in a normal driving position, because anything more than 70mph in a Convoy is unbearable!

Being fair though, the trailer literally weighs a ton and if I couldn't see it in the mirrors I wouldn't know it was there, the camper makes a great tow car.

[spartacus]

Here's a shot now, sent by the vendor.

[sutty2006]

Needs going back to silver, for epic nostalgia points! 

[Amishtat]

6 minutes ago, sutty2006 said:

Needs going back to silver, for epic nostalgia points! 

And those fucking horrible wheels need to go in favour of Rostyles.. 

[spartacus]

Ha ha, those Minilites properly divide opinion, I like them, but ultimately it's up to Mrs Spart.

[spartacus]

Quick stop at 'Barter Books' in Alnwick, I could spend a small fortune there but at this stage in my life I would never have time to do all that reading.

I picked up a couple of books though...

[spartacus]

Scotland achieved some time ago, now having a quick coffee and snack before heading into Perth.

[Saabnut]

Pity I did not know you were planning this, I have a car in Worksop I would like to get to Perth, could have covered your fuel one way......

[spartacus]

Argh! Don't say that! I'd have happily obliged!

[spartacus]

Purchased and loaded!

It's in fair condition, no major crustiness or immediate welding needed. The vendor was a nice enough guy but fuck me, when you're trying to sell a classic car for ££££, give it a clean off, charge the battery and put some fuel in it FFS!

[HMC]

What a brilliant story! I did think it must have been a classic of some sort, as statistically even a new car 21 years ago is unlikely still to be around, never mind an end of life banger.

[HMC]

Does Mrs Spart do car names? I’d find it hard not to call it Tim, even though I don’t do car names!

Ps thank God it’s not red. Most cars’ fate is to be scrapped. For an MGB it’s to become tartan red +/- fake walnut dash.

[spartacus]

She did have a name for it bitd, because it spent so much time at the garage it was c#@t, I'm hoping that now she's got a tame mechanic, (me), that it won't spend so much time being repaired, so maybe Tim will stick, I'll certainly encourage it.

[Christine]

Didn't they give you some proper straps  with the trailer ?

[spartacus]

Nope, it's a good trailer but they did miss a couple of tricks, one was supplying straps and the other was reminding you to bring a plate!

I'm happy with these I'm using, there are four and I'll be making regular checks.

[Isaac Hunt]

3 hours ago, spartacus said:

Purchased and loaded!

It's in fair condition, no major crustiness or immediate welding needed. The vendor was a nice enough guy but fuck me, when you're trying to sell a classic car for ££££, give it a clean off, charge the battery and put some fuel in it FFS!

It was cleaned off in the picture the seller sent.  

[spartacus]

Aye, we've just worked out that was before the car was put into the garage, some time ago! Anyhoo, I'm not going to lose sleep over it, I'm pleased for Mrs Spart.:-)

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Love a car with backstory and this is no exception. Did your OH get emotional seeing it again? First cars are particularly special and the fact it still exists is bloody amazing. What goes on with the seller though? Was it advertised as 'project which isn't currently running'? 

Looking forward to the next installment. 

[spartacus]

Ha ha, that's been a running joke between me and her since we knew we were going to look at it. I've been getting steadily more excited and asking her, and she's just been dead-pan. On her own admission she was more excited about a weekend away in the camper. I've just asked her how she feels now we've got it and she says she's happy and relieved, relieved because she can stop looking for it!

It was advertised for much more than it's worth, described as 'in good original condition', 'bodywork and interior clean and original', all the usual flannel really. We knew straight away that the body had had at least some work because it's a different colour, and the interior is now black leather rather than the striped cloth when Mrs Spart owned it. 

When I first spoke to him about two months ago he said that it just needed a water pump gasket and new tyres and it would be good to go, he promised to get a mobile mechanic out and get it sorted but typically that didn't happen. From what we can piece together I think he probably used pictures for the ad that were taken before the car was driven into the garage for storage, until he went to it today I don't think he had any real idea of its condition!

 I'm looking forward to getting stuck into it, she's got the luxury of a big garage with a pit, so I'll have to try very hard to make a photographic record of all that I do to it and keep this thread updated. 

[spartacus]

A couple of spots from our journey, the Escort was in Tesco filling station in Cupar, it made me think of Hendry.:-/

[reb]

That's my local Tesco! I've seen the Escort around a couple of times and always get slightly excited by it, dad had one back when they were a lot more common! Don't think I've seen the Jaaaag about though